Lutheran and Islamic groups partner in Nepal earthquake response

Aid agencies backed by Christianity and Islam have shown they can work together in an earthquake-stricken country such as Nepal where 80 percent of the people are Hindus and nine percent are Buddhists.

The Lutheran World Federation and Islamic Relief Worldwide say they are working together to provide shelter for 12,000 of the most vulnerable people in the 14 worst-affected areas following the April Nepal earthquakes.

Police have said that more than 8,635 have died as a result of the 7.8 magnitude April 25 earthquake with over 300 people missing still and at least 2 million people in Nepal are without homes.

The joint Lutheran-Islamic relief project will ensure that 12,000 people in five remote villages in Rasuwa district, north-east of Kathmandu receive temporary homes Lutheran World Information reported.

This will occur before the onset of the monsoon and the following cold winter seasons.

The quake was so powerful the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest, moved three centimetres (1.2 inches) to the southwest because of the Nepal earthquake that devastated the country in April, the Chinese Daily reported June 16.

China's National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation found that the 7.8-magnitude quake reversed the gradual northeasterly course of the mountain.

The LWF-IRW project will target those most in need, including people with disabilities, the elderly, women, children, nursing mothers, and people from marginalized communities such as Dalits, religious minorities and indigenous nationalities.

"This is a time when we as faith-based organizations have to say very clearly that religion is not a stumbling block, but an added value in emergency aid," said LWF general secretary Rev. Martin Junge.

"In Nepal, we have a coexistence of many different beliefs. When disaster strikes, communities have to pull together to help the most vulnerable," he noted.